Last night brought the first round of press screenings for The Mummy, the first film in Universal’s ambitious Dark Universe franchise that will see remakes of classic monster movies from the studio’s history, including The Creature from the Black Lagoon, The Wolf Man, The Invisible Man, Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein, as well as recently announced additions The Phantom of the Opera and The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

With a lot riding on its shoulders, how does The Mummy fare not just as the start of a major franchise, but as a new vehicle for Tom Cruise? Well, the reviews don’t have many kind things to say, which doesn’t bode well for the Dark Universe, despite Universal’s confidence in the franchise.

(Welcome to Nostalgia Bomb, a series where we take a look back on beloved childhood favorites and discern whether or not they’re actually any good. In this edition: Stephen Sommers’ 1999 blockbuster The Mummy goes under the microscope.)

Romance! Adventure! Mythology! Monsters! Oh my!

In 1999, I was the ripe old age of eight. I was a fourth grader who already felt like a nerd, wasn’t that interested in boys, and thought the epitome of cool was rocking my brother’s old three wolf moon t-shirt. That was the year The Mummy, starring Brenden Fraser (*swoon*), hit theaters. What followed was a chain of events that I can only describe as “borderline obsessive.” It’s rare for a movie, especially one has received so many mixed notices over the years, to change your life.

It’s strange to think that Sofia Boutella emerged out of nowhere in 2014 to steal the show Kingsman: The Secret Service, and has since then starred in several massive blockbusters, with only more high-profile projects in the future.

Now, Boutella has signed on to play the female lead in the HBO Films’ adaptation of Ray Bradbury’s sci-fi classic, Fahrenheit 451, also starring Michael B. Jordan and Michael Shannon.

(Welcome to Movie Mixtape, where we find cinematic relatives and seek out interesting connections between new releases and older movies that allow us to rethink and enjoy what’s in our theaters as well as the favorites on our shelf. In this edition: The Mummy.)

It’s difficult to overstate how popular mummy movies have been over the years. From 1932 to today, every few decades, a new mummy craze would lift its ragged head from the tomb to shock and amaze before slinking back off into the shadows.

Boris Karloff and Universal definitely capitalized on it, but they have Nefertiti to thank. The discovery of her bust in 1912 kicked off modern Egyptomania, which was sustained by the further discovery of King Tutankhamen’s tomb in 1922. Tabloids fabricated and twisted a “Mummy’s Curse” into existence, which became the basis for the first wildly popular film, as well as the foothold for dozens of films over the next century. Tom Cruise leads the next installment, which promises to be the first in an extended Dark Universe when it hits theaters this Friday. Tough luck, Brendan Fraser. There’s a new kid in town. Who’s pretty old.

While we see if Universal can bring mummies back to life, let’s look at some other movies to bring out of the crypt.

This Friday, Universal’s The Mummy will launch the studio’s Dark Universe, a shared cinematic universe of classic movie monsters. And while at least four more monster movie reboots have already been planned, Universal has announced two new monsters to be added to the roster — as well as one familiar name that will be coming back.

The blockbuster summer season just keeps marching forward. Now that Wonder Woman has hit theaters and exceeded even the higher opening weekend box office predictions, it’s time to look forward to what’s coming next weekend.

The big release for the weekend of June 9 will be The Mummy, the horror action adventure combo that is meant to kick off Universal’s ambitious plan to create the Dark Universe that they made such a big deal about officially announcing recently. Tom Cruise stars in the remake of the classic monster movie that still looks like more action than horror, and leading up the film’s release in just a few days, Universal has released a batch of clips to entice audiences. The only problem is they don’t instill much confidence in the flick.

Universal’s Dark Universe feels like gamble. What if audiences don’t embrace The Mummy? What if their burgeoning cinematic universe built around classic monsters like Frankenstein and the Invisible Man dies on the vine? We’ll see which direction the wind blows in the weeks ahead, but with a Bill Condon-directed Bride of Frankenstein waiting in the wings and more movies in the works, Universal seems to be counting on this thing working out.

However, the most interesting thing to note from a new article about the creation of Dark Universe is that not every film will be a giant tentpole release. In fact, a producer who specializes in low-budget horror wants to take a stab at one of the movies.

Next weekend, we’ll get a sense of how audiences feel about Universal’s Dark Universe. Alex Kurtzman‘s The Mummy gets the monster party started, but whether the world wants a world of gods and monsters, we’ll see soon enough. The movie is on track to make $40 million its opening weekend in the states, but with the power of Tom Cruise, it should perform even better overseas. If one thing seems for sure, it’s that Kurtzman’s film doesn’t lack scope, as a new behind-the-scenes featurette suggests.

Earlier this week, Universal threw down the gauntlet. Their new classic monsters cinematic universe was rechristened Dark Universe and next month’s The Mummy will officially be followed by Bride of Frankenstein in 2019. They’re going all-in on a new franchise built around iconic characters like Frankenstein’s monster, Dracula, the Invisible Man, the Wolf Man, and more.

There’s only one hiccup: the first movie in the Dark Universe hasn’t even opened yet and no one has any idea how audiences will react. We’ll have to wait a few weeks to see how things work out for everyone, but Universal has officially moved into marketing overdrive with The Mummy, as a new clip, a new featurette, and a new poster have arrived to remind people of this movie’s existence.

Universal Studios is going all-in on their new cinematic universe connecting all of their classic monsters. While The Mummy is set to kick things off next month, the studio has revealed that this franchise will be collected under a single banner called Dark Universe, which will have its own logo that will appear before each movie, complete with a musical theme composed by Danny Elfman. As you can see from the image above, the logo is a shadowy version of the traditional Universal logo. You can see the whole thing in action, and hear Elfman’s bombastic fanfare, below.